Sustaining Life : How Human Health Depends on Biodiversity

We share this planet with millions of other species, each of which is a unique store of precious information. We are driving those species extinct at 100 to 1,000 times the natural rate—a crime equivalent to tossing books from the Library of Alexandria thoughtlessly into a fire, erasing the shared inheritance of all mankind. To slow or prevent this process, one should surely exhaust all reasonable arguments and actions. This book, a well-edited and beautifully presented multi-author volume, argues for preserving the planet’s biodiversity for practical reasons: Many species benefit humankind through medicine and agriculture. Assembled by a team of nearly 300 authors and editors, the book starts with overviews of biodiversity and how it is threatened by human activity, claims that biodiversity supports essential ecosystem services, and then introduces medicines from nature. The enlightening and useful sixth chapter reviews the medical value of seven threatened groups— amphibians, bears, primates, gymnosperms, cone snails, sharks, and horseshoe crabs—giving advocates new and valuable ammunition. The next chapter describes how human impacts on ecosystems and their biodiversity affect the emergence and spread of disease. Two chapters make clear that we rely for healthy food on biodiversity in agriculture. The concluding chapter describes how individuals can conserve biodiversity: reduce consumption and take local action. The argument is impressive, the production is beautiful, and the cause is just. It is a shame that the logic does not work. Two extremely important elements have been left out: economics and population. If one chooses the economic strategy, one must be prepared to deal with economic counterarguments. It is not enough to demonstrate that biodiversity has practical value for medicine and agriculture; one must show that it has more such value than other options. If pharmaceutical companies could make money developing drugs via bioprospecting, they would do so; books like this one would not be needed to convince them. And though one chapter argues, convincingly, that biodiversity is higher in organically farmed croplands than in the more intensive alternatives, a trip to the local supermarket, which carries both, reveals that one pays a 30–40% premium for the organic option. Conservation remains a luxury of the rich, not a priority of the poor. The best hope for economic gain from biodiversity lies in genomic surveys of the bacteria and fungi that produce antibiotics. Human impact on biodiversity equals, roughly, number of humans times the amount consumed per capita, with a correction factor for good or bad behavior. Because solving the population problem is essential to stopping the biodiversity crisis, it is striking that in a long book with a chapter on how we can modify our consumption to protect biodiversity, there is no mention of population. One wonders why, for the logic of population impact is inescapable. If we could simply give every woman on the planet control over her own reproductive destiny, the mean completed family size might drop naturally, populations would grow less rapidly, and some might even decrease. They would not moderate rapidly enough to prevent many extinctions, but in the long run decreasing the human population of the planet is the only way to stably stop extinctions. Nor is it particularly credible to advocate reducing consumption when the governments of the world are scrambling frantically to avert a global financial crisis with incentives to increase consumption. Asking individuals to refrain from consuming when most of those around them are trying to consume more—the core of the modern materialist lifestyle—is simply to note the tragedy of the commons without solving it. Finally, claiming that biodiversity is essential to maintain ecosystem services, without quantifying how many species are actually needed to do it or acknowledging evidence for extensive redundancy in natural ecosystems, risks loss of credibility. Do we really know the minimum number of species that we need? We might lose many of them with no discernible impact on ecosystem services. This book will certainly help, not hurt, and I am glad it exists, but it will not solve the core problems of economics and population. What we need is the research to discover, and the political courage to implement, effective incentives to reduce global consumption and global birth rates. All else is window dressing.

Divided into four sections, Volume Two begins with the West African and Caribbean languages, before moving on to the South Asian speech communities from Bengali and Gujarati to Sinhala and Tamil. The volume concludes with discussions of East Asia, ranging from Filipino to Vietnamese, and the Farsi and Hebrew speech communities in the Middle East. [See previous entry for Volume I.] Aslib Translating and the computer, 10: the translation environment 10 years on. Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference on Translating sponsored by Aslib, the Aslib Technical Translation Group and the Institute of Translation andInterpreting, London, November 1988. London: Aslib, 1990. xv + 176pp. £24.50. In 1978 the UK had its first practical encounter with machine translation. Ten years later the translation profession has become computer-wise, yet the real impact of machine translation systems is only just beginning. It is generally agreed that MAT (or CAT) has superseded MT, but the man/machine interface still needs to be studied and experimented with.
The tenth anniversary offers a review of what was predicted for MT/MAT a decade ago, and an assessment of where these predictions were right and where -and why -they were wrong. The conference comprised four main sessions: The New Realism; Information Retrieval; The Translation Environment; The Future: A Tribute to Margaret Masterman. A number of papers concentrate on real and practical examples of the harnessing of computer power to the translation process. A further set of papers consider some of the practical aspects of using word processors, PCs and databases as translation aids.

Aslib
Translation and the computer, 11: preparing for the next decade. Proceedings of the Eleventh International Conference on Translating, sponsored by Aslib, the Aslib Technical Translation Group and the Institute of Translation and Interpreting, London, November 1989. London: Aslib, 1990. ix + 135 pp. £24.50.
In the translating world, the current trend is away from academically-based research projects and towards the commercial market-place. There is closer liaison between researchers, software developers and working translators so as to develop tools which meet the practical requirements of the translator's desk.
The eleventh conference in this series marked the start of a new decade in which new document production and storage technology is likely to be harnessed to the translation production process. Particularly interesting in this context are the papers presenting different solutions to the problem of terminology control in various organisations. The conference also provided an update on working MT systems and an assessment of some emerging trends which may be discerned from current research.
Intonation, or speech melody, refers to the rise and fall of the pitch of the voice in speech; it has intimate ties to facial expression and bodily gesture, and conveys, underneath it all, emotions and attitudes. To illustrate his points, Professor Bolinger uses hundreds of examples from everyday English speech, presented much in the manner of musical notation. The book looks at how intonation varies among speakers and societies in terms of age, sex and region; how it interacts with grammar; and how it has been invoked to explain certain questions of logic. The discussion of variation shows the degree to which intonation can be conventionalised and yet embody a universal core of feelings and attitudes, renewed with each generation. The remainder of the volume demonstrates that no explanation of those apparently more arbitrary phenomena with which intonation interacts is adequate if it ignores that emotive undercurrent.
In examining recent proposals for a defining relationship between intonation and grammar or logic, the author shows that such relationships are inferential and based on attitudinal meanings. For example, a given intonation does not mean 'factuality' but rather ' speaker confidence', from which factuality is inferred. In general, the author shows intonation operating independently in its own sphere, but as nevertheless indispensable to interpreting other more arbitrary parts of language.

Byram, Michael and others
Cultural studies and language learning: a research report.
It is a widely held assumption among teachers and educational policy makers that foreign language learning creates greater tolerance and understanding of foreign people and their cultures or ways of life. This book describes a major research project whose main aim was to test that assumption. The research consisted of in-depth case-studies of the teaching of French in two English secondary schools. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods was used, including classroom observation, informal interviews with pupils and teachers as well as statistical analysis of data from questionnaires and attitude tests.
The book gives a detailed account of the research methodology and analysis of data. The latter include textual analysis of learners' perceptions of French people and their way of life, before and after learning French at school. There is also detailed analysis of teachers' and textbooks' techniques for introducing learners to aspects of the foreign way of life, based on classroom observations throughout one school year. The contribution of language teaching is placed in the context of other sources and influences by drawing on information obtained from questionnaires and interviews. The significance of these other factors should not be under-estimated and one of the main conclusions is that a more rigorous and deliberate approach to teaching about the foreign culture needs to be developed if foreign language teaching is to justify the assumption that it has a humanising influence on young people's views of other people and cultures.

Byram, Michael and Esarte-Sarries, Veronica
Investigating cultural studies in foreign language teaching: a book for teachers. Clevedon, Avon: Multilingual Matters, 1991. xi + 219 pp. £43.00 (£14.95 pb). This book was inspired by a major research project investigating the widely held assumption that foreign language teaching makes a positive and influential contribution to learners' views of the people and culture whose language they are being taught. The authors explain the significance of their research to teachers and suggest how some of the material gathered during the project might be used in their daily practice to investigate and reflect upon their own pupils' views of foreign peoples and cultures. For those who wish to follow the full scientific report of the research, cross-references are provided to the companion volume, Cultural Studies and Language Learning.
After an introductory chapter on the significance and role of culture as part of foreign language learning, the second chapter provides an overview of the research and the methods chosen to investigate a most complex phenomenon. These and later chapters include suggestions for further reading and references to the companion volume. Subsequent chapters are focused on specific aspects of the research data which will help teachers to consider their own practice. Suggestions are made for using extracts from interviews with pupils in the research project to elicit and refine learners' understanding of a foreign and their own culture or way of life. There are two chapters dealing with specific influence of teacher and textbook and explaining how the cultural content of the latter can be analysed. A further chapter describes an experiment in using the school trip to the foreign country to reduce the superficial tourist character of such visits and make pupils more aware of the way foreign people live their daily lives. The final chapter suggests how a more deliberate and rigorous approach to cultural studies will make foreign language teaching a truly educational experience.
Clark, Romy and others (eds.) Language  The papers are organised into four sections: (1) Language and power, which addresses the theme in general and theoretical terms; (2) Language varieties, power, and language rights, which addresses questions of how power relations affect relations between language varieties in contexts of social and political change (English in Africa, education for the deaf, language in Spain and Switzerland); (3) Language and power in educational settings which includes studies of language in academic discussions, research and conferences, writer identity and the classroom as a power arena; and (4) Language and power in non-educational settings, which addresses political discourse, negotiation discourse, the power of media and of media texts, and job interviews.

Gee, James
Social linguistics and literacies: ideology in discourses. Basingstoke, Hants: Falmer Press, 1991. xxi + 199 pp. £10.95. This book attempts to bridge the disciplinary gap between the study of language and literacy, and the study of social theory and critical pedagogy. It begins with a survey of interdisciplinary work in contemporary social and cultural approaches to literacy -work that constitutes what the book calls 'the new literacy studies'. The second section goes on to address key aspects of discourse studies and sociolinguistics. The third section develops a new interdisciplinary approach to the analysis of literacy, discourse and language in educational settings with special reference to cross-cultural diversity.
The book provides an accessible introductory textbook, rich in bibliographical resources for those unfamiliar with the theoretical and empirical work drawn upon. At the same time, it develops challenging theoretical formulations, with practical examples of classroom and community texts and interaction. This book takes an interdisciplinary approach to the relations between power and language. Many societies are ' multilingual' throughout their history, but there is often a hierarchical ordering of their languages, dialects and ways of speaking. These are rarely of equal status, power or authority. Through a detailed and systematic comparison of Britain and France, the author examines the concept of language dominance, and the causes and consequences of linguistic hierarchy.

Grillo, R. D.
In both France and Britain language has been a major political battleground, and this study traces the history of their various conflicts from the Late Middle Ages to the present day. By relating these linguistic struggles to the principal social, economic, cultural and political factors at work in society as a whole, the book demonstrates the continuity between small-scale, 'local', even interpersonal relationships and general, large-scale processes. The investigation brings together an unusual and rich combination of material from a wide range of sources and a variety of academic disciplines. When fluency is emphasised at the expense of accuracy, the result may be a terminal classroom pidgin. The author claims that it is possible to prevent the establishment of such an interlanguage, and much of this book is devoted to how that can be done. Restoring the balance between fluency and accuracy will depend largely on gaining a better understanding of the concept of proficiency and how to apply it to language programmes. The roles of cross-linguistic influence and systematic instruction are crucial. The author looks at student errors in a novel way and suggests 'deep' correction techniques.

Hammerly, Hector
Established methods, models and theories are considered, together with new ideas and procedures, to arrive at a method based on a model of cumulative mastery and increasingly freer communication.
Hammerly also proposes a total language teaching programme that combines human contributions (teachers, group leaders, members of the community) with the best that technology has to offer. This book also offers suggestions for English as a 'remote' language and as a 'local' language -two very different situations. The author calls for more applicable theories of language and concludes with a plea for more (and unbiased) classroom research.
The intuitive acceptability of the type-token relation has led linguists and philosophers to underestimate how complex the question of defining this relation is. Consequently the type-token relation has been taken for granted but left unexplicated in modern linguistic theory. This book aims to lead the reader to the perception of a problem fundamental to our understanding of language, yet largely concealed by a strong intuition about linguistic sameness. It is intended both to provide a ' work-book' for anyone who wishes to explore the definitions offered by different theorists and to point to ways of conceiving similarity and identity outside the stipulations and idealisations of contemporary linguistics.

Larsen-Freeman, Diane
An introduction to second language acquisition research.
This book provides a synthesis of empirical findings on second and foreign language learning by children and adults, emphasising the design and execution of appropriate research. It assumes no prior knowledge of SLA, and introduces major topics such as the scope of SLA research, research methodology for gathering and analysing data, the history and development of SLA research and substantive findings on interlanguage development. Subsequent chapters examine the linguistic environment for SLA, learner variables and explanations for success and failure, the role of theory in social science, current theories of SLA, and the effects of formal instruction on language learning. The volume also includes an extensive bibliography and suggestions for further reading, as well as discussion questions and problems to accompany each chapter. This book focuses on practice. The contributors, experienced teachers and innovators in an interactive, equal opportunities mode of teaching, offer educational, social and linguistic evidence on its value for all pupils. They show how learning processes can be productively fostered in mixedability, mixed-experience classrooms, and why these kinds of classrooms are necessary for bilingual learners' curriculum learning and English language development.

Little, David
Learner autonomy i: definitions, issues and problems.
Dublin: Authentik Language Learning Resources Ltd, 62 pp. £6.95. This book begins by explaining the importance of autonomy, both as an educational goal and as a characteristic of learning in general and language learning in particular. It then explores some of the issues and problems that are likely to confront any language teacher who sets out to promote learner autonomy.
Moll, Luis C.   has exerted a deep influence on psychology over the past 30 years. Vygotsky was an educator turned psychologist, and his writings clearly reflect his pedagogical concerns. For Vygotsky, schools and other informal education situations are the best culture laboratories in which to study thinking. He emphasises the social organisation of instruction, writing about the ' unique form of cooperation between the child and the adult that is the central element of the educational process'.
Vygotsky's emphasis on the social context of thinking represents the reorganisation of a key social system and associated modes of discourse, with potential consequences for developing new forms of thinking.
The focus of this book is on foreign and second language pedagogy research. The 21 articles have been written as a tribute to the memory of Claus Faerch by colleagues and friends in his home country, Denmark, in the rest of Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden), and Finland, in Great Britain, Holland and the Federal Republic of Germany, in Canada, Israel, and the USA. Professionally these scholars span a range of interests: applied linguistics, second language acquisition, foreign language peda-gogy, psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics. Some are more concerned with theory, its utility and validity, others with teacher training and more practical aspects of language learning. Most strive to integrate theory with the promotion of good language learning. Some are concerned with the teaching and learning of their mother tongue, whether as the dominant or as an immigrant language, while others teach foreign languages. The book has five sections, each of them concerned with theory and empirical studies. There are sets of articles on applied linguistics in a historical perspective, in the short and longer term; on learner language; on learner strategies and processes; on classroom research; and on the learning of pragmatic and social competence.

Walford, A. J. (ed.)
The working languages of the European Community: a guide to learning resources. London: Library Association Publishing, 1990. 208 pp. £16.50.
With 1992 and the single European market on our horizon, the lack of a common language is a barrier not only to travel, research and the dissemination of information, but also to business, government and such operations as policing and air traffic control. Foreign language skills are becoming vital.
This guide will help those who need to study any of the main European Community languages: French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Danish, modern Greek and English. American and Australian English are also included. Different levels of proficiency and different subject specialisations are catered for.
Chapter 1 enumerates criteria for selecting dictionaries (general and special). Chapters 2-10 describe courses for beginners, for students of English as a second language, for Cambridge First Certificate, GCSE and similar examinations, for advanced study, and for specific purposes (e.g. business, travel). Audio-visual material on the languages and background notes on the countries concerned are also assessed.
Linking the development of reading, writing, speaking and listening, this book offers a distinctive holistic approach to literacy and language acquisition. It emphasises the value of active, collaborative learning, and includes sections on literacy across the primary curriculum, new technology and assessment. Each chapter is linked to a component of the National Curriculum Programme and contains points of interest, sources of further information and suggestions for follow-up activities in the classroom.

Books received Linguistics
A theory of computer semiotics: semiotic approaches to construction and assessment of computer systems. P. B. Andersen. Cambridge University Press, 1991. £30.00. Study of the special nature of computer-based signs and how they function in use.